James Potter's Easy Guide to Falling in Love
by ShaelynnSophia
Summary: James Potter has been chasing Lily Evans for as long as he can remember. With a little advice he's finally reached the end of his race, and for a short time, life is perfect, but nothing good lasts forever.
1. Chapter 1

No matter how hard we try, certain things in life never cease to amaze us. I promised myself I'd never write from the perspective of James or any of the Marauders but I'm finding it harder and harder to keep that promise. For now enjoy this collection of previously untold stories; James Potter's Easy Guide to Falling in Love.

All credit goes to J.K. Rowling, the creator of all things Potter.

Summer was great, sure. You could do almost anything you wanted, but for some reason James Potter found himself not wanting to do anything. His parents insisted he teach some kids basic Quidditch skills so every Monday and Thursday afternoon, all summer, was spent with a bunch of annoying eleven, twelve, and thirteen year olds. They weren't all bad, but they definitely were not who James wanted to be spending his time with.

It was the second Thursday of summer when James arrived home to find Sirius and Marlene waiting for him.

"James! You know what's funny?"

"Nice to see you Marlene," he said nodding at the blond. "I don't know Sirius, enlighten me."

"You and I are living under the same roof and yet I've seen more of McKinnon this summer than I've seen of you."

"I'm sorry Padfoot; you know I've been busy."

"No, I actually don't, because I haven't seen you long enough for you to tell me. Anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about. We're," he indicated Marlene and himself, "organizing a get together at the Leaky Cauldron to celebrate the beginning of seventh year. You have to be there."

James made his decision a few days later. He would go see Lily. What he didn't realize was the day he chose to go was the day of Petunia's final dress fitting.

James thought that the Evans' house was perfect. It sat on the corner of the street and was surrounded by a huge garden. The front door had an ornate knocker that James slowly grasped in his right hand.

When the door opened revealing a middle aged man James took a step back. The man took one look at James and stuck out his hand.

"James Potter I presume?"

James shook his hand not wanting to be rude, but was rather shocked none the less. "How did you-"

"Well I know you're not Remus and if you were a friend of Petunia's you'd know she's not here right now."

"Oh well I uh-"

"Lily's not here either." Lily's dad was sporting a 'I know you like my daughter so I'm going to make life difficult for you' smile.

"Do you- do you know when she'll be back?"

"Would you like to come in James?"

"That would be appreciated Sir, as long as I'm not imposing." Mr. Evans laughed at James' use of the word 'Sir' and then moved out of the way allowing James to proceed inside.

If possible James liked the inside of the house even more, hardwood floors throughout, rich blue walls in the living room and a quaint fireplace that a wizard would never own because it was too small to use to floo.

Mr. Evans led James into the dining room where they both sat on opposite sides of the table.

"Tell me about yourself James."

It seemed like such a normal question that James almost forgot that he was talking to the dad of the girl he fancied. "There's really not that much to tell yet, I'm an only child, I've been playing Quidditch since I could walk," James paused then, realizing that Mr. Evans probably didn't know what Quidditch was. "Quidditch is a sport we-"

"Lily's explained the basic premise to me, it sounds quite interesting."

James' face lit up, "it is. There's something special about how each Hogwarts house has their own team to root for so even the kids who don't play can support us. My mates and I like to play in our free time as well. Last summer we even got Remus playing and he wasn't half bad."

Lily's dad laughed no doubt imagining his daughter's friend flying a broom.

"You wouldn't believe how hard we've all tried to get Lily to play, I think she'd enjoy it once she started but it's getting her on the field that's the difficulty."

"She's always been a stubborn child. We had to bribe her as a kid in order to get her to do anything."

Now it was James' turn to laugh. "You have a good daughter Mr. Evans; count yourself lucky she's not as stubborn as me."

"Lily may have mentioned you're persistent."

James broke his gaze afraid of how much he knew. "I hope she hasn't said too many bad things about me Sir, you see I mean well."

"I know that James, and so does she, getting her to admit it is your problem."

James looked up, "are you saying-"

"All I'm saying is she's a lot like her mother and it took years for me to get her to agree to marry me." James couldn't for the life of him believe that Lily's dad was actually giving him relationship advice. "Between you and me, I'd suggest you start by apologizing, think back to something you did or a comment you made to her and then tell her you're sorry. It'll drive her crazy since I highly doubt you've ever apologized before."

"What if there's nothing I regret?"

"Find what you least regret because odds are she feels the same. You need her to realize that you're not always going to be around if she ignores you."

"How did you get Mrs. Evans to go out with you?"

"I asked out another girl."

Before James could even laugh he heard the front door opening and a voice calling out. "It went perfectly, Petunia couldn't be happier. She took all the girls out to get lunch."

As the voice came closer James got more and more on edge, surely Lily had told her mum more details about how she truly felt about him.

"Oh hello, I didn't know we had company."

"This is-" her husband began.

"James Potter, it's a pleasure."

Trying not to be once again shocked that Lily's parents could identify him, he stuck out his hand. "The pleasure's all mine Mrs. Evans."

"Lily wasn't lying when she said you were easy on the eyes." James was sure he'd turned as red as Lily's hair which caused Mrs. Evans' smile to widen. "I'm guessing you didn't come here to see us though and I'm afraid Lily won't be back for a couple of hours."

"I should probably get going anyway, I promised my mum I'd be home for lunch."

"Should we tell Lily you stopped by?"

James thought about it, "don't bother her with it Mr. Evans, I'm sure I'll see her sometime soon."

As he let himself out the front door, James could've sworn he heard Mrs. Evans say "do you think he loves her?"

If only he had the confidence, he would turn around and tell them that he did.

James considered going to see Lily every day after that, but Remus had promised he would try to get her to come to the Leaky Cauldron, so James patiently waited.

When the aforementioned night finally came, James was in such a rush to get out the door that he almost missed the letter addressed to him on the kitchen table.

After he read it he shoved it in his pocket to show to Remus later.

When he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron the sun had just set. He went in to find Peter, Sirius, and Marlene sitting at a table near the back.

"Prongs!" Sirius called out, clearly already intoxicated. "What took you so long buddy?"

James sat by Peter, "I waited until mum was asleep so I wouldn't worry her. When did you leave?"

"Before you were up my mate. McKinnon here wanted to go visit her grandmother. Nice old woman I must say, but I didn't get the feeling she was quite fond of me."

"Not as charming on the old as you are on the young, what a shame Padfoot."

"Well it doesn't much matter because she's gone back to America and I doubt Sirius or I will ever see her again."

"Cheers to that!" Sirius exclaimed, "James my dear fellow you don't have a drink. Wormtail, go off and grab him one."

Peter jumped up at the order but James stopped him, "I'm capable of walking over to the bar myself Sirius."

It was while James was standing by the bar waiting to order that Lily came in. She looked absolutely breathtaking or at least that's what James thought. Her eyes sparkled in the dim lighting and her face was being framed by messy ringlets.

James managed to force himself to look away before anyone caught him staring. As he weaved his way back to the table he ran straight into Remus.

"Moony how was the wedding?"

"The ceremony was alright but I'm terrible at muggle small talk."

"Remus, you're terrible at small talk with wizards too."

"Thanks Prongs, oh, and Mr. Evans gave me this to give to you." He held out an envelope, "I'm not really sure why he's sending you post but he said it was really important. He also said to tell you not to read it until the time was right."

"What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't look at me, he said you'd know."

James put it in his pocket not knowing what to think. His hand brushed against the letter he'd received earlier and he pulled it out.

"Take a look Remus."

Two minutes later James was heading back to the table and Remus was left standing with his mouth agape in the middle of the room.

James sat back beside Peter, while Marlene and Sirius were now gone, their seats were filled by Ezra and Auryn.

The first thing James noticed though was sitting directly behind Auryn, the one and only Lily Evans. Her back was to him so she had no clue he was there and no one could get after him for staring. He couldn't help it for tucked neatly in her hair, was the lily James had gifted her for Christmas.

As the night progressed the crowd slightly thinned but mostly just got more drunk. Ezra left as soon as Nicola walked out and James assumed their breakup wouldn't last much longer. Merrick declared his feelings towards Marvel who wasn't drunk enough to laugh it off. James' moment finally came when Lily got up and went across the bar to talk to Shaw Hale. After exchanging a few words they got up heading out to Diagon Alley.

He followed a good thirty seconds after the door shut behind them.

James laughed to himself watching as they entered the ice cream parlour. It was no wonder Sirius gave Shaw the nickname Goody. While everyone else was drunk out of their minds these two went off to get ice cream.

When he opened the door both girls turned towards him and somewhere a clock chimed an hour unknown to James.

Shaw paused for a moment and then turned to Lily. "Gosh I'm sorry Lily but I must be off, Mum is going to kill me when I get home."

James took this moment to tell the boy behind the counter that he'd have what Lily was having. After he paid he turned to find Lily staring out the door. Realizing it was now or never, he headed towards her.

"Fancy a walk Evans?"

"Long time no see Potter."

"Is that a yes?"

"Actually, I'd say it's more of a why not."

He held open the door for her as they went off into the night. He thought back to their trip to Hogsmeade at the beginning of the year, it was the first time she'd agreed to spend time with him, albeit Remus was there too, but it was still one of James' fondest memories.

Lily suddenly stopped, "why are you here James?"

He didn't know what to say so he faked confusion, "everyone's here Lily, practically the whole year."

"That's not what I meant, I mean out here, right now with me. Why did you come?"

He took a deep breath wondering if he could carry through with it. "I messed up and I wanted to apologize, I'm sorry I kissed you Lily."

He surprised both himself and clearly Lily with what he said so before he could take it back he forced himself to leave. "I should probably get home." With that he turned and started walking but he stopped once for a quick moment to call back to her, "oh and by the way, you look lovely tonight Lily."

If her dad knew what he was talking about then James Potter was one step closer to getting Lily Evans to fall in love with him.

A/N

Well, what did you guys think? I'm not sure if I love it or not but MF convinced me it was good enough to post. If anyone's reading this who isn't reading/hasn't read LEAMMEGTM I highly suggest you go give it a read. This story will only be certain parts of Easy Guide to Marauding and is told solely from James so you will be left confused if you start here. Just a refresher, Shaw, Marvel, Nicola, Auryn, Merrick, Ezra, and a lot of other characters (Robin, Lauren, Damon, Turner, Theodosia, etc.) are created by me to work along with Rowling's characters (the Marauders, Lily, Petunia, Marlene, Dorcas, Benjy, Caradoc, etc.). Lastly, this chapter takes place during the summer of 1977 and matches up with chapter 10 of Easy Guide to Marauding.

Thoughts are going out to those in Brussels

Shaelynn


	2. Chapter 2

To J.K. Rowling for inviting all of us to this magical world, I can't thank you enough.

James went home and it wasn't until the next morning that he remembered the letter Remus had given him. As he held it in his hand he was ready to open it but somehow he stopped himself. Instead, the letter went straight into the bottom of his trunk that he'd soon be packing for Hogwarts.

James taught his last Quidditch lesson on a Thursday and immediately after he and Sirius headed to Diagon Alley to buy new books. They met up with Marlene and Lauren for a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Lily's not doing so well; I don't know what's gotten into her."

James perked up at Marlene's comment, "you've been to see her?"

"Lauren and I stopped by this morning, Petunia's due to get back from her honeymoon tomorrow, that's probably what it is."

"If you ask me she was upset about a boy." Everyone went silent as Lauren casually stated what everyone was thinking.

"Well I didn't ask you." Marlene was nothing if not protective of Lily, and James admired it.

"Did you two hear who's head boy?" Of course Sirius felt the need to bring up the one thing James didn't want to talk about.

"Did Remus get it?" The younger McKinnon sister sounded hopeful, most likely afraid the spot had been given to a Slytherin.

"No," Sirius sounded disgusted but the smirk on his face said otherwise.

"It's not a Gryffindor then?"

"Oh but it is Lauren."

"Well it's certainly not you. I'm also guessing it's not Peter so then it must be Ezra." Sirius shook his head making Lauren get angry, "well there's no other gits in your room so it's got to be one of them."

Marlene gasped, "no, no, no, no. There's no way, why would Dumbledore do this? There are plenty of better blokes in Raven- I mean Hufflepuff."

"You'd rather have some fluffy puff as head boy over our very own James Potter?"

Realization finally showed on Lauren's face after Sirius spelled it out. "Well that's fantastic isn't it? What's the problem Marley?"

Marlene just held her hand up to silence her sister, "who's going to tell Lily?"

"Remus is having lunch with her tomorrow."

"James," Marlene said calmly after he spoke, "this is our last year. You win her over now or you lose her forever."

With that piece of advice in mind, James Potter arrived at Kings Cross on the 1st of September.

He was just about to get on the train when he heard his name being called. "Lucie!" He exclaimed when he saw the Hufflepuff.

Once she made her way over to him she gave him a huge hug. "How was the rest of your summer James?"

"It was quite well; I missed having you around though. Are you ready for your last first day as a prefect?"

Lucie laughed and casually flicked James on the shoulder. "I thought I'd never make it, I figured Dumbledore would be rid of me by sixth year."

"Don't be silly Luce he's allowed Robin to stay hasn't he?"

"Good point, I'll bet you two chocolate frogs she doesn't even come to the meeting."

James smiled, "I'll take that bet, but I don't think I'll win." With that they shook on it.

It was then that Dorcas Meadowes was pulled away from her eavesdropping by Verity Flint who had some exciting news to tell. Although one must note that neither James nor Lucie realized she was there to begin with, their conversation was completely genuine.

"Should we head to the prefect's car?"

"I meant to meet Remus but I suppose he might already be there."

The meeting went alright, no one trusted James' authority but that was to be expected. Once everything had been discussed the students were dismissed and James bolted out of the carriage. Lucie was right behind him.

"James Potter I do believe you owe me some chocolate frogs."

"I don't think that was a fair bet Blythe."

"Don't cheat me Potter we shook on it."

"All I'm saying is maybe Robin's not even on the train, she may have a good reason for not coming." Of course this was the moment Robin came into the hallway.

"Hey guys, did I miss anything important?"

"You just cost me two chocolate frogs Ridley, you better have a good reason for not being at the meeting." James pulled a few coins out of his pocket and passed them to Lucie, "keep the change." She happily skipped off in search of the food trolley leaving James alone with Robin.

"Sorry mate but I've always found prefect meetings quite dull."

"You're a piece of work Ridley, I'll give you that."

"Thank you," she called as he continued past her, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't."

James didn't much feel like sitting with his friends so instead he found himself entering a compartment that Marvel Fleming and Shaw Hale occupied.

Seven minutes later James was stretched out on half the seats while Marvel and Shaw sat across from him.

"I don't see why you can't just tell her you fancy her; make it clear to her that this isn't a joke."

"It's not that easy Fleming, where's Ross? I need a not so female opinion."

"Five doors down, or at least I think that's where I left him when the prefect meeting ended."

"Wait, wait, wait," Shaw swung her feet down from their spot on the seat. "What are playing at with Lucie Blythe?"

James sat up, "what are you talking about?"

Shaw scowled, "you and Blythe, why do you insist on going round with her if you really want Lily?"

"Nothing's going on between Lucie and me. Where would you even get that idea?"

"James, we haven't even made it to Hogwarts and everyone's already talking about you two."

Before James could speak Marvel shot him a glare. "She's right Potter, I heard a group of fourth year girls whispering about you two and even the guys are discussing it."

"I repeat, nothing's going on between Lucie and me, we're just friends."

"That's rubbish and you know it." Marvel looked ready to kill him.

"I think what Marvel meant was this is kind of out of the blue for you. You chose your friends years ago and sure you're plenty nice to the rest of us, but not that nice."

"Shaw, Lucie and I have been friends since we were babies. Her parents were very young when she was born and both sets of her grandparents were gone, so my parents helped the Blythe's out a lot."

Shaw thought about it, "why did no one notice that you were close before?"

"To be completely honest, our friendship has just always been outside of school. This summer I was coaching Quidditch and her brother was one of the kids so I asked her if she'd come help me out since she's on the Hufflepuff team. We spent a lot of time together; I didn't think it was a big deal."

Marvel rolled her eyes while Shaw gave him a once over. "Oh James, you might as well have asked out another girl."

That was when Merrick Ross came through the door and attached himself to Marvel's face. James took that as his cue to leave.

Shaw followed him out, "James," she said as the door clicked shut, "congratulations on being head boy, you deserve it."

"Thanks Shaw, I'm glad you replaced her as prefect, you'll do a great job." With that they went their separate ways, James to find the marauders, and Shaw to find Auryn and Robin.

It was while sitting with his friends that James realized Shaw was the first person to say he deserved to be head boy. Lauren had said it was 'fantastic,' Remus gave him the 'you'll do fine' speech, and Lucie had explained to him that 'the key is to act like you know what you're doing,' but no one had told him he deserved it.

Before long they were at Hogsmeade station and then soon after that the sorting ceremony had begun. James didn't pay much attention, he heard Dumbledore announce a new Charms professor but that was it.

It was pretty late when everyone made it to the common room so James headed straight back out to do his first prefect patrol with Remus.

They were walking past the library when Remus spoke. "Have you given up on Lily?"

"Of course not, and if this has anything to do with Lucie, I swear on Sirius Black's life that there's nothing at all romantic going on between us."

"Does Lucie know that?"

"Moony she has a boyfriend, nice bloke might I add, and besides, she deserves better than me."

"You don't think Lily deserves better?"

"That's not what I meant Remus; all I'm trying to say is Lucie deserves someone who cares about her as more than a friend."

"How do you know you'll never feel that way towards her?"

"I know because I'm in love with Lily. I have been since I first saw her; I just didn't realize it at the time. I've never wanted any other girl and if I can't have her then I don't want to make someone else miserable by settling."

"James but-"

"You know why I keep telling you I know everything about her? It's because I do, I know she hates the colour blue, she likes every ice cream flavour that's ever existed, she's never tried firewhisky, she wants to be an auror after graduation, and she has an obsession with muggle music. I will love her not only until the day I die but for the rest of eternity, whatever that may mean."

Remus was speechless and James had nothing else to say so the boys were quiet as they returned to the common room. The room was dark except for the fire and empty except for three figures over by the stairs.

Even in the darkness Lily's hair stood out which is why James and Remus' eyes were instantly drawn to her. They couldn't hear what she said but they both watched as she produced a patronus. As it came closer James was entranced, realizing it was a doe that was a match to his own stag patronus.

Most don't know enough about patronus' to know what it means when they match, but James Potter knew. He knew that this meant Lily didn't loathe him like he'd always assumed. In reality, he now knew that Lily Evans must feel stronger for him than he'd ever realized.

When he heard a door slam James looked up to see that Lily was gone and that's when he realized the other two figures were Sirius and Peter. They did not look happy as they headed up to the boys dormitory without saying a word.

Before he followed the boys, James thought back to Lily's patronus, "maybe I don't know everything," was all he said to Remus before going to bed.

A/N

Sorry for the long time between updates, this story has been quite the challenge. The next update won't be anytime soon because I'm not writing one for the next chapter of LEAMMEGTM. Let me know what you think of this chapter, I'd love to know if this is making Easy Guide to Marauding make more sense or if it's just confusing you more.

I hope it's as sunny where you are as it is here

Shaelynn


	3. Chapter 3

To JK Rowling for crafting a world that I am motivated to write about.

Sometimes it seemed like life just went by too fast. James Potter longed for the days of sneaking out to the backyard in the middle of the night to stargaze. Back when he was little things had been so much simpler, he didn't have three best friends to constantly worry about or an obsession with a beautiful redhead. When James was little he slept, ate, and played Quidditch, anything else he just did to pass the time. Once he got to Hogwarts he lost all of that. There were no more days of lounging in bed or savouring meals, everything was such a rush. The worst change was Quidditch, no longer was it a challenge for James, he made the team second year and ever since he faced no real difficulties. Gryffindor hadn't lost a game since James joined the team, that's not to say the other teams weren't good because they put up quite the fight but it wasn't enough.

James was a bit worried this year though, two of the team's best players had graduated; Edward Naven and Jeremy Rhodes. Sure James had Marlene lined up to replace Naven as a chaser but he still needed to find a new seeker. That's how he found himself in the common room hanging up flyers when he would've much rather been hiding in his room waiting for Lily's return. The problem was he still didn't know what to say to Lily when she got back. They hadn't really addressed the subject of her parents deaths' before she left and now it all just seemed like a bomb waiting to go off.

Lily was an orphan, and it was because of the wizarding world. For all James knew she'd graduate from Hogwarts and move on to live life like a muggle. He didn't want that for her but he wasn't entirely sure where they stood, was he in the place where he could talk her out of something drastic?

With that question shoved in the back of his mind, James walked over to Marlene.

"Quidditch tryouts," he pointed back to the sign, "we need a new seeker."

It really didn't take Marlene long to form a conclusion, "what about a chaser? I mean Naven is gone now. Unless," she took a breath, "James you already promised me that spot, how could you give it to someone else?"

James sighed; sometimes girls could be so difficult. "McKinnon, you didn't let me finish."

"No James, you're the one who didn't let me finish. You'd be lucky to have me on that ridiculous team of yours and you know what? It's your loss."

It took every bit of strength James had to not laugh at her ridiculous assumption. "Actually I'm not losing anything-"

"I don't want to hear your gloating James. Can you just leave me alone?"

"Sure but tryouts are on the pitch tomorrow, be there early."

"James there's no way I'm trying out for seeker; I told you I wanted to be a chaser."

How is it that girls can't just take a hint? "I know, and no one said you were trying out."

"Then why in the world do I have to go to tryouts?"

"Think it over McKinnon, I'll see you tomorrow."

On his way out of the common room James passed Sirius. "Let her figure it out on her own mate."

James didn't wait for a response but instead kept walking. He hated prefect duties; if he was a good enough student to become head boy shouldn't the lesser students have to stay up late patrolling the halls? The first time with Remus had been alright but then James got paired with Benjy, and man, that guy never shut up.

As he approached Shaw James figured tonight would be alright. Sure Shaw wasn't the most fun person in the school but her blue green eyes screamed with just as much resentment for the activity as James' did.

"Goody," James said as he walked towards her.

"Prongs," Shaw acknowledged him with a swift nod and a smile. "Did you leave Sirius and Marlene in the tower?"

"Sirius had just arrived when I left; worried we'd walk in on them snogging?"

James was joking but Shaw vigorously nodded her head. "What?" She asked noticing his confused expression. "I caught Ezra and Nicola last week and the week before that it was Marvel and Merrick, if we catch someone tonight I'm not making any promises that I won't hex them."

Something about the way she said it just made James burst out laughing. "I got to admit Hale; I'm now half hoping we do catch someone." This resulted in James being shoved towards the wall. "Hey! Is that any way to treat your head boy?"

"Head boy huh? Ain't that something? You know I always figured that I was more likely to become head boy than you. You used to have quite the life James; you seem so lame now, what happened?"

A smirk appeared on his face, "I met you."

This time James was ready and braced himself as her tiny hands tried to push him farther away from her. As she gave up and rolled her eyes James got serious.

"Have you spoken to Remus?"

Shaw's face went even paler than it already was. "He doesn't want to talk James. Every time I go near him he walks away."

"He loves you Shaw, he was just worried, and he has to get over it at some point."

"I can't undo it James, Remus just needs to realize that."

"Shaw, look at me," as she stopped James grabbed her shoulders shaking her slightly. "I don't know what it is you did but it can't be any worse than anything I've done. Remus can be a complete prat when he wants to be, you have to be patient and eventually he'll come to his senses."

"What if he doesn't?"

James smiled, "then we'll make him."

"James," Shaw began as she started walking again, "do you remember when we became friends?"

He nodded, "Christmas of 1968 when your parents brought you over to my house."

"No," Shaw sighed smiling slightly, "that's when we met but we didn't become friends for another three years."

"The room of requirement," the memory caused James to smile. "Out of everyone you could've told about it you chose to tell me."

"I've never made friends easily James, everyone takes me for being a prude and keeps their distance. Marvel, Auryn, and Robin are my complete opposites but they've always accepted me for who I am." Quickly wiping away a tear she continued. "Remus is scared of me, he always has been. He knows how Garrison destroyed me and he's worried he'll do the same thing."

"Garrison didn't destroy you Shaw, he made you stronger. Remus didn't know you before, but I did and I know that if he really destroyed you, you wouldn't be standing in front of me today."

Before she could start crying James pulled her into a hug. "You're amazing Shaw, don't ever forget that."

After that he walked her to Gryffindor Tower and finished rounds alone.

* * *

Tryouts the next day went terrible. Three boys were just trying out to flirt with Dorcas and one of them wasn't even in Gryffindor. To their credit they did better than the girl who fell off her broom but that's not saying much. When a third year missed the snitch the boy started yelling at Sirius saying it was his fault. James had had enough; he barely even watched most of the kids because it was clear right off the bat that they didn't have what it takes.

After a couple of hours James gathered the team.

"Who do you think we ought to pick?"

"You're Quidditch captain James, you should be telling us." Leave it to Dorcas to not be of any help.

"Sirius are you sure that was everyone?"

"Of course I am James- oh wait a second. There were only three gits in love with Dorcas."

"Well how many did you think there were?" Sirius could be so frustrating sometimes; after all it really isn't that hard to read a signup sheet.

"Well four obviously. Anyway that means there's still someone left." James couldn't spot anyone they'd missed but it was a long way across the pitch.

"Who is it?" Everyone asked at once.

Sirius of course took forever to tell them; "some bloke named Owen."

James was thoroughly confused. "Since when is there an Owen in Gryffindor?"

Dorcas started cackling, "like you'd know, you hardly pay any attention to the first years."

"Hate to break it to you Meadowes but first years can't try out for the team. By the way, as head boy I make it my duty to know every kid in my house."

"Then who's Owen?"

James fixed a glare on Dorcas while talking to Sirius, "last name?"

"Rosier, Owen Rosier."

"Connor," James turned to the keeper, "take your position. Meadowes you sit this one out, you got this Prewett?" James wasted only a second waiting for the boy to nod. "Sirius you're off since you can't even read a list properly and you're with me Marlene."

James got on his broom and, with Marlene following closely behind, flew to the group of candidates.

"Do we have an Owen?" Was the first thing he asked when they landed.

Sure enough out from within the large group came Owen Rosier. James had to try and hide his shock when Owen turned out to be a small red headed girl.

Not wanting the older kids to laugh at the poor girl James addressed the other students, "the rest of you can head back to the castle, if we pick you you'll know soon enough, otherwise, thanks for coming out."

After they'd left with Owen out of earshot Marlene gave James a questioning glance, "what did you do that for?"

"Come off it Marlene, don't tell me you wanted them to stay? They wasted our whole afternoon. When she doesn't work out," he said gesturing towards Owen, "we'll go with that sixth year."

"Why do you think she won't work out?"

"She's in second year McKinnon, how good could she be?" With that James flew into the air and waved for Owen to follow.

"Here's the deal Owen, when I signal Sirius over there he's going to release the snitch. All you've got to do is catch it without falling off your broom, sound easy enough?"

"What's the catch?"

James smiled, he liked this girl already. "You have to catch it before me."

"You're not even a seeker though."

"And you are?"

Now it was Owen's turn to smile, "I guess we'll find out."

With that James called to Sirius wanting to see if this girl was more than just talk.

In the time it took for Connor and McKinnon to get into a row Owen had swooped in front of James and caught the snitch.

"She's a natural!" James yelled as he flew around the stadium beaming down at his fellow teammates. Once their feet were firmly planted on the ground James stuck his hand out to Owen. "Welcome to the team."

James had never seen anyone happier and when they found out that Owen's siblings were both former professional Quidditch players it all added up.

From then on James' day went splendidly. The sky seemed a little brighter and the food tasted a little better. If only it could've lasted a little longer.

As the sun was setting James made his way up to the owlery. His owl, Cornelius, was getting pretty old and would sometimes forget to bring the mail in in the morning. After a few minutes of searching James watched as Cornelius flew in through the window. Snatching the purple envelope before the owl could fly to its perch, James recognized the handwriting immediately.

Sometimes life moves in slow motion and every once in a while, it stops completely.

A/N

Well it's been quite some time. I am extremely sorry about that, this chapter was just surprisingly difficult to write. Please let me know your opinions and make sure to read chapter 13 of LEAMMEGTM which matches up almost perfectly to this chapter.

I'm hoping that summer means more updates because as of right now I'm not too busy.

Shaelynn


	4. Chapter 4

Credit to JK Rowling for all of these characters but Shaw who is my child like Harry is Rowling's

Walking into the common room James gestured Remus over to where Marlene was sitting.

"Lily's coming back."

Marlene looked relieved, "well that's good, isn't it? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost James?"

"I guess so, I'm just really worried about her."

Remus put a hand on his shoulder, "she's going to get through this, she has all of us and she has her sister."

James couldn't help but flinch as he finally said what was in the letter. "Remus, Lily said Petunia wants nothing to do with her."

Passing the letter to Remus James felt a weight lift off his back. He was no longer alone and he knew based on their reactions that they wouldn't let Lily be alone either.

* * *

After Lily came back everything was a blur. To be completely honest James had no idea what exactly was happening between him and Lily. All he knew was it was more than he could've asked for.

The real reality check was when she expressed interest in meeting his parents; he'd never brought a girl home before. Although in all honesty, he'd never had a girl to bring home before.

When Christmas Day came he did everything in his power to make the night perfect. Waiting by the fireplace he greeted Lily with a smile as she arrived.

"James," she said with a smirk brushing off her party dress.

"Lil you look gorgeous."

"You don't look too bad yourself." He offered her a hand which she cautiously took.

"Come on there's some people here I'd like you to meet." Okay he had intended to go straight for his parents but then they bumped into Fabian Prewett, followed by Andromeda Tonks, and then a few distant relatives of the Potter's.

When James finally tracked down his parents it was nearly dinner. "Mum, Dad!" He said pulling Lily along with him. Reaching them he gestured to Lily. "This is Lily Evans. Lily," he said turning to the blushing redhead. "These are my parents, Euphemia and Fleamont Potter."

"It's a pleasure." She said extending her hand.

Seeing something outside James excused himself. "I'll be right back."

"Are you going to come inside?" James asked finding the person he'd seen.

"I'm thinking about it. Is Remus in there?"

"I think you know the answer to that one Hale." It was the full moon, and Shaw was crazy about knowing when every full moon was, it was weird that she'd even ask.

"I feel like I should be with him."

"You've always been there haven't you? We just never realized it."

She shrugged. "I could never sleep, I was too worried." Seeing the look on James' face she rolled her eyes. "Before you say anything Potter, there is such a thing as a platonic relationship between a guy and a girl."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Is this your way of telling me you're madly in love with me James?"

He laughed for a moment before getting back to the discussion at hand. "Shaw you're the best female friend a guy could have, but are you there for Remus because he's your friend or because you're in love with him?"

"I'm not in love with Remus. Not like that."

"Is there any other way?"

She smiled. "Of course there is James. If it came down to it you'd sacrifice yourself for Sirius, or Remus, or even Peter. That's love. Not the keep you up at night once in a lifetime love but the blind faith, familial love. It's just as real and it hurts just as much when you lose it."

"If you can describe it that vividly how do you know it's not more?"

"I know because I feel the same thing I feel for Remus for you and for Marvel and for my siblings. Mind you there are differences, but the base, or the roots; they all sprout from the same plant."

"It's a beautiful analogy Shaw but I've never been much of a plant person, or shall I say botanist?"

Slapping him on the arm Shaw continued. "Robin's at her cousins up north, Marvel's in France, and Auryn's doing who knows what. I've had a lot of time to think about things since we left the school.

Marvel's mom knew Tom Riddle, did you know that?" I shook my head. "Her mom was a Slytherin, two years younger than him and a fifth year prefect when he was Head Boy."

James was almost scared to ask but he did anyway. "What happened to her?"

Shaw pursed her lips. "No one knows for sure if she was a death eater."

"'Was? So she's not now?"

"She died four years ago James. The aurors raided this abandoned building rumoured to be a death eater stronghold. They were right, everyone else who was there was a confirmed death eater."

"Shaw," James began. "What about Marvel's father and siblings? Are they-" he trailed off.

"No," she shook her head vigorously. "Her dad's where she gets the Ravenclaw tendencies from. As for her siblings, well Daisy's a squib, Jack works for Gringotts, and the twins; Jenna and Miles, are high up with the Ministry."

"Isn't Daisy married to a muggle?"

"Yeah they just had their tenth anniversary in the summer. At least that's what Miles said, Marvel hasn't spoken to her since the wedding."

"She hasn't spoken to her sister since she was seven?" James was shocked, although being an only child he had no clue what that would be like.

Shaw shrugged. "A lot of it was Daisy. She didn't tell her husband about her family being magical, even as a child Marvel didn't like having to hide such a major part of her life."

"But I didn't even know for sure I was a wizard when I was that young, what if she had been a squib as well?"

"The summer ended and her siblings went back to Hogwarts, for the first time ever she had nobody. Her dad worked nonstop for some muggle company and her mom was probably off becoming a death eater. She felt abandoned and she took it out on Daisy."

"Why was her dad working for muggles?" Shaw was talking so fast it was hard to comprehend everything she said.

"Marvel's a half blood, her dads a muggle."

"I thought you said he was a Ravenclaw?"

"No sorry I meant he's like a Ravenclaw, super brainy and somewhat obsessed with knowledge."

"I've known her as long as I've known most of our year and yet I never knew that about her. I figured she was from one of those pureblood families who married in a mudblood at some point."

Shaw shook her head. "It's weird isn't it? You feel like you know someone when really you don't. Why do we have that feeling?"

James shrugged. "It keeps things interesting. If we were honest with ourselves it would be a whole different world."

"You know something? You're one of the good ones James." She smiled. "Now come on dinner's probably ready."

Without another word Shaw headed into the house, stopping for only a moment to take in what she just said, James followed.

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to fall into conversation at dinner. When that happened Sirius turned to James.

"I think McKinnon's going to break up with me."

"What?" James nearly spit out his food.

"She's been avoiding me all night. When I asked Lily about it she got all stoic and changed the subject."

"When did you talk to Lily?"

"Oh I don't know, it was a few minutes ago she was talking to your parents and then your mom went to check on the food and Mr. Blythe started talking to your dad." Sirius went back to cutting his food then whipped his head back to James. "That doesn't help me with my problem Prongs."

James shrugged. "I have no clue what to say. Did you do something wrong?"

"Maybe, not that I can think of though. I mean we were good until Hogsmeade."

"Well what happened at Hogsmeade?"

"I brought up how I wanted her to meet your parents."

James grimaced. "You should not have done that Padfoot." Sirius responded with only a questioning glance so James continued. "You're the one with commitment issues; you should be able to tell me."

Sirius laughed. "Marlene doesn't have commitment issues."

"I'm just looking at the facts. She gets all distant when you bring up meeting the folks and then avoids you when they're around."

"Why would she even come then?"

"That I don't know. Just because I may be dating one doesn't mean that I understand women."

Sirius snorted. "If I've learned one thing at Hogwarts it's that you have to be one to understand one."

"Sirius?" James asked turning back to his plate. "Would it be the end of the world if she broke up with you?"

He opened his mouth but took a considerable amount of time to find the words he was looking for. "I really don't know. I don't want her to feel forced into our relationship."

"Do you feel forced into the relationship?"

"I'm not going to be all sappy and say Marlene's my soulmate but she's more than a girlfriend. I've had the time of my life with her this last year and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Then why don't you tell her?"

Sirius shrugged. "We're still in school James, and even if we weren't I have nothing to offer her, maybe we should end things."

James laughed. "McKinnon without Black is like Hogwarts without Dumbledore, it's never going to happen."

If James Potter only knew how wrong he was.

A/N

I'm so sorry this took so long; I've been struggling with which parts of LEAMMEGTM are best told by James. I really like this chapter though; Shaw and James are definitely my favourite pairing but completely platonically of course. My best friend who Marvel is based off of has some insane ideas on what Marvel Fleming will be doing come the ending of this story, so this is the beginning of a little more Marvel and hopefully soon we'll get a little more Robin and Auryn who as mentioned before are also based slightly on friends of mine. For those of you new to this story it matches up to chapter 17 of Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon's Easy Guide to Marauding.

Good luck to all of you as you head off to school or work or wherever

Shaelynn


	5. Chapter 5

The credit for this marvellous world goes to J.K. Rowling

James' memories of his seventh year were quite foggy. After all, everything after Lily just didn't seem important. Still, it did happen. He did graduate, and with some of the highest grades in the year to boot.

He thought back to 1978, really it was all pretty foggy. He remembered his parents getting sick and the night in Verity's beach house when he kissed Lily. What he couldn't quite recall was the evening in November when he knew it was time to open the letter Mr. Evans had given him.

In all honesty he hadn't thought once about the letter Lily's dad gave him in over a year. He was sitting on the floor in his bedroom twirling an engagement ring between his fingers when it popped back into his mind.

Finding it in the bottom of his trunk he debated opening it multiple times. When he finally did a smile spread across his face.

He had Mr. Evans' blessing. Well sort of. James would never be 100% sure but based on the contents of the letter he had a newfound faith in what he was about to do.

Things had improved vastly from there. In January 1979 he married the girl of his dreams. Then in July 1980 they had a beautiful baby boy.

Of course there's more to the story, but James didn't much like to think of the bad. They'd been in hiding since autumn 1979, he and Lily, but still James found ways to forget the war. No one could stop him from going out to the local pub, although even that could only do so much.

This time however, things were different; Shaw was back in town. James hadn't seen her in nearly a year.

The first thing he remarked when she entered the pub was that her hair was shorter. Her eyes were still the same shade of blue and she still stood nearly five inches below the top of his head, but her hair, it seemed to change everything.

Really it didn't, but James Potter was not good with change. Not anymore. For him it had been nearly a blink of an eye, the past year. He'd been locked up indoors for most of it. Whereas Shaw, and everyone else for that matter, had been out living every moment they had left. The worst was that many of them had been fighting and James, well he was hiding. It didn't seem right.

* * *

It's funny how certain moments in life lead to so much more. A random conversation, looking up from reading the paper at the right moment, or even sleeping in an extra five minutes can change the course of a person's life.

After the sorting ceremony, that is the ceremony of 1971, eleven year old Sirius Black looked across the Gryffindor table to where James Potter was seated. Beside James was a pretty blonde girl that Sirius would soon know as Marlene McKinnon.

Sirius' gaze passed quickly over the blonde girl and when he saw what she was eating he began to stare. The first thing Marlene ate at Hogwarts was an apple. Out of all the things she could've eaten Sirius watched as she chewed a ruby red apple.

That ladies and gentleman is how Marlene McKinnon gained the nickname Apple.

When Ezra Abbott was fifteen he found himself late for a charms class. Racing through the empty corridors he happened upon an unlikely scene.

A Ravenclaw, Shacklebolt he thought her name was, had her wand pointed at a sixth year Slytherin. As Ezra rounded the corner she hexed the Slytherin. Ezra was impressed to say the least.

From that moment on he was incredibly infatuated by Nicola Shacklebolt.

If Sirius hadn't looked across the table to the boy he'd met on the train, Marlene would no doubt have a different nickname. Probably something less personal like Goldie for her hair or Mickey for her last name, it just wouldn't be the same.

If Ezra hadn't spent too long at breakfast he wouldn't have come across Nicola and the Slytherin. In all honesty the two may not have even become a couple. He didn't much care for Ravenclaws beforehand.

Lastly, if Shaw Hale hadn't discussed her article about the Fidelius Charm with James Potter, he wouldn't have put so much thought into his choice of secret keeper.

* * *

"It's amazing, really, the trust that you must have to use it. I mean under immense pressure I don't know that I could blame anyone for sharing the secret. Yet if you need to cast the charm in the first place you've got to be so incredibly desperate and it would be utterly terrible for you to be found out."

James was only half listening as she rambled on and on. Then Shaw said something that really caught his attention.

"It's like how Sirius is one of your closest mates but it would be ridiculous for him to be your secret keeper."

James raised his brows. "Well who do you reckon I'd ask instead?"

Shaw shrugged clearly not aware that James hadn't been paying attention. "Remus maybe, or even Peter. Everyone would expect Sirius, he'd be an instant target, whereas who would even think that it would be Peter? No one, absolutely no one."

The topic didn't last much longer but her words stayed with James until long after she'd spoken them.

"I should get back home to Lily and Harry," he said two drinks later.

James got up to go but Shaw placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "James," she said cautiously. "I'm engaged."

He looked straight to her hand and she shook her head. "No ring, not yet. My parents don't know, they were supposed to be the first but I don't know when next I'll see you."

"The war is going to end Shaw, it's got to at some point. Now tell me," he said smiling as he sat back down on a barstool. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Miles Fleming."

James said nothing for a moment. It's not that he thought Miles was bad for Shaw but that Shaw and Miles were bad for Shaw's relationship with Marvel. "He makes you happy?"

She smirked, "well let's just say I never planned on getting married at 21. I wouldn't agree to it for just anyone."

"You're making me feel old Hale; I've already been married two years and now my kid's about to turn one."

"Oh James, you are old. You've got about four months on me; you're practically an old man."

"Some days it sure feels like that."

* * *

Nearly an hour later the first thing James said after kissing his beautiful wife and child was, "we're not old are we?"

Lily let out a small laugh. "Not yet, no I rather think not."

"Good," he smiled. "I'd hate to think we missed out on doing most young people things. After all, they'll be plenty of time for us to be old, no need to start now."

"You're right, there's no need," she paused. "You know something? I love you James Potter, I love you a lot."

"I love you a lot too Lily Potter."

A/N

Here we are at the end of JPEGTFIL. I know it's just five chapters but it was meant only to give certain insight into moments in LEAMMEGTM. This chapter doesn't really match up to LEAMMEGTM, although in chapter 24 Lily does say that James is out with Shaw. Anyway, the reason for the lack of matchup is because I thought James deserved his own ending, and I think this was a pretty great one. He finally reads Mr. Evans' letter and marries the girl of his dreams. This is also my take on how Peter ended up as the Potter's secret keeper. As is said in this chapter, the Potter's have been in hiding long before this (I believe that is pretty canon) but there's no saying when they cast the Fidelius Charm so I figured why not sometime after this (a.k.a. sometime around the time the Order of the Phoenix photo was taken). I'm sure everyone has a different opinion on how things went down, so I hope you liked mine.

It was a joy writing this story

Shaelynn


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